It's All About Israel - By Jonathan Brentner -
Is God finished with Israel? Most pastors today would answer yes. They either believe God has replaced Israel with the church or they may tell you that Jesus Himself fulfilled all the promises and covenants regarding Israel.
As a result, they see no prophetic significance in Israel's miraculous rebirth as a nation.
Those in this no more Israel camp make two critical errors. First, they refuse to believe what Scripture teaches about Israel's role in future prophecy. Despite Paul's clear words to the contrary in Romans 11, they deny any future prophetic role for Israel and relegate to allegory biblical promises regarding Israel's future restoration and the Lord's rule on the throne of David (Isa. 9:6-7; Luke 1:32).
Second, they fail to see the prophetic significance of the worldwide antisemitism and its accompanying hatred for Israel. My question is this: if Israel no longer has a place in God's future plans, why is Satan continuing to stir up such murderous hatred of the Jewish people and nation?
I believe Satan remains bitterly opposed to Israel because he knows the Lord intends to restore a glorious kingdom to the nation when He returns to the earth. Just as he has done in the past, he works tirelessly to thwart God's future purposes that will result in Christ's rule where the devil now reigns.
The Murderous Track Record of the Devil
There's little disagreement regarding the devil's past efforts to stop God's plan to bring the Messiah to the earth through His chosen people. Pharaoh attempted to kill all the male children of the Israelites while they were slaves in Egypt. Balaam lured God's people into idolatry. And these were just the start of his many attempts to prevent the birth of the Christ.
In the book of Esther, we see Satan's most aggressive plan. He stirred up the hatred of one man, Haman, and inspired him to devise a plot to kill all the Jewish people in the world. The Lord, however, defeated this diabolical plot through orchestrating events whereby Esther, as queen, had access to the king and persuaded him to issue a decree that negated Haman's wicked scheme.
After the Lord's birth, Satan continued his murderous ways by ordering the killing of all the male children in Bethlehem and the surrounding area that were two years old and younger.
If Jesus' birth, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection marked the end of all the Lord's purposes for Israel, would we not expect to see at least a decrease in the devil's opposition to the Jewish people? However, this is just the opposite of what we see.
Satan's Unrelenting Hostility to Israel
Satan's opposition to Israel and the Jewish people has grown exponentially since World War I and the Belfour Declaration. Could the Holocaust have happened apart from an intense demonic influence on thousands of people who so blindly followed the direction of Hitler in murdering six million Jews?
When Israel became a nation in 1948, the surrounding Arab nations repeatedly attacked her despite the fact that Israel occupied a miniscule amount of land compared with that of her enemies. God, however, miraculously protected the nation again and again and again. Can there be any doubt that He fought for Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967 when He turned what at first appeared to insurmountable odds and certain devastation of the nation into an astounding victory?
That defeat, however, did not cause Satan to abandon his unrelenting hostility. The overwhelming hatred of Israel at the UN is totally inexplicable apart from the work of our enemy. In America, the increase in ungodliness has gone hand in hand with increasing attacks on synagogues, Rabbis, and the Jewish people. We hear anti-Semitic voices among the Democrats in the United States Congress.
I do not believe we can explain the fervor of the demon-inspired attacks against Israel and the Jewish people apart from recognizing that God has a vital remaining purpose for them. The only explanation for the high level of loathing for Israel and increasing antisemitism in the world must be the result of the devil knowing God has a grand purpose for His people, of which he is determined to stop.
It Only Makes Sense If
The devil's murderous opposition to Israel makes sense if we take the scriptural prophecies regarding Israel's glorious future literally and not misconstrue them with allegory or overlay them with a "covenant" understanding that negates both the clear meaning of the words and the author's intent.
The Old Testament prophets directly referred to the Lord restoring the fortunes of Israel at a still future time a total of sixteen times. How can we explain that away with symbolism? God fully intends to restore a glorious kingdom to Israel, and He will do it!
Zechariah foretells a widespread spiritual awakening that will take place just before Jesus' return to earth (Zech. 12:10-13:1). It's abundantly clear in the text he has Israel in mind; his words cannot refer to the church nor can we apply a symbolic meaning to them.
Staying with the prophet Zechariah, in chapter 14 he prophesies that someday "the Lord will be king over all the earth" (v. 9). Zechariah ends his book with a description of Jesus' glorious rule from Jerusalem at a time when it will be possible for people to disobey the Lord. This is not the eternal state.
Jesus, in words that cannot be rendered meaningless through allegory or covenant theology, promised His disciples that they would "sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:28). How else could the disciples have understood this apart from a kingdom for Israel?
His Current Strategy
Today, the devil has a new problem. Israel has a powerful military force, a booming economy, and significant wealth through an abundant supply of recently discovered natural resources such as natural gas, oil, and gold. Not only that, the strongest military force in the world stands ready to defend Israel against any major attack.
It makes sense, then, that Satan first would want Israel's most successful and powerful Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, out of the way along with Israel's most powerful defender, President Donald Trump. With these two in power, any major assault on Israel would meet with limited success at best. On the other hand, with these two leaders out of the way and America no longer ready to defend the nation at the first sign of trouble, this would open the door for the Gog-Magog war, which appears to be his next step.
Both this conflict and the rise to power of the antichrist with the coming New World Order have one theme in common: the destruction of Israel. I believe another key objective of Satan is the total destruction of the human race, but that is a topic for another time.
There is much good news for us in all this. God is sovereign and remains in total control of the future.
God keeps all His covenants with Israel; its future glory will far surpass the time of David and Solomon.
The Lord will also not fail in keeping all His promises to us. Just as He promised in passages such as 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Philippians 3:20-21, and 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, the Lord will come for His church. He will give both dead and living saints glorious and immortal bodies, catch us up to meet Him in the air, and take us to His Father's house in heaven (John 14:1-3).
Yes, so much of what we see in the world today is all about Israel. The prophet Zechariah also wrote about the world's obsession with Jerusalem in the last days (12:1-3). We already see this preoccupation with the city, and it will steadily increase until it becomes the main stage for the battle of Armageddon.
Jonathan Brentner
Website: Our Journey Home
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